Automatic valve mechanism.



'1. F. JOHNSON. V

, AUTOMATIC VALVE MECHANISM.

V APPLICATION FILED AUG. 19. [914. I 1,223,340. Patented Apr. 17, 1917..

2 SHE ETS-SHEET 1.

' IS ATTORNEY I FACT VJ.F.JIOHNSON.

AUTOM AIICVALVE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. [9. 1514.

1,223,340. PatelitedA r. 17,1911

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.-

IN v /v TOR. I

HIS ATTORNEY IN FACT UNITED stra rns PATENT OFFICE,

JOSIAH FRANGIS JUHNSON, OF EDGEWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGN'OB, TO THEWEST- menonsn MACHINE QOMPANY, A CORPoltATlfilV- OF PENNSYLVANIA.-

AUTOMATIC VALVE MECHANISM.

i To allwhom it may concern: V

Be it known that I, JOSIAH' FRANCIS Johnson, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and aresident of Edgewood, in the county .0 Allegheny and Stateof Pennsylvania, have made a new and useful Inventionin'Automa'ti'cValve Mechanism, of which the following is a specification. Thisinvention relates bines or engines and has for an 0b3ect to -produceimproved means 'for'bleeding n10} t'ive fiuidfrom a working pas'sageof aturbine or engine. I

A further object is "to produce an im proved bleeder valve mechanismfordeliver ing motive'fluid to 1nultistage tur-j valve mechanism to' alow pressure stage ofresponse to var1athe turbine or engine in tionsinthe pressure of from the intermediate pressure A further object isproved blceder valve mechanism. for delivers the fluid delivered stage.

,ing motive-fluid from a low pressure stage] of turbine" or engine,which is responsive in its operation to variatrolled in the illustratedembodiment of the or working passage tions in the load on the turbine orengine.

These and other objects I attain by means of an apparatus embodying, thefeatures herein described and illustrated in the drawings accompanyingand forming a part of this application. I y in the drawings, Figure 1-is'a vertical sectional view of a multi-stage turbine equipped with avalve mechanism embod'y-' ing my invention. l

Fig. 2 is a sectional View on an enlarged 40 scale of the valvemechanism lllustrated in Fig. 1.

My invention, as'embodicdiin the appa- "ratus illustrated, consists of avalve mocha nism adapted to supply steam for heating or industrialpurposes from an intermediate stage ofa turbine to a delivery port orpassage which communicates with a heating system or industrial apparatusemploying low or intermediate pressure steam. The valve also controlsthe deliveryoi't steam from the intermediate stage to a working stage oflow pressure of the turbine, and is responsive in operation tovariations inthe livery port a governor y from an intermediatepressurevworkmg stage of aturbme or eng ne,

- within the turl to produce an im-' from Specification of LettersPatent; Patented A 17', 1917, Application filed August 19, 1914. iSerial No. 857,530

pressure of the steam" delivered to the die or passage. Through certainBt ranges of, load on the turbine the valve mechanism is responsive, inits operation, to variations in'the'load on the turbine and is adaptedto close the delivery port or passage when the load conditions are suchthat the turbine cannot carry the load and supply steam through thedelivery port or passage for heating or industrial purposes,

In Fig. 1, I have illustrated a multi-stage turbine, includingan initialstage 3, receiving motive fluid through a passage 4, from controlledvalve-mechanism 5, and delivering motive fluid to an intermediate. stage6. The motive fluid discharged from the intermediate stage 6 is receivedby an annular chamber or passage 7, formed iii'ne casing, and is adaptedthrough a delivery port 8 for heating or industrial purposes,' ortl'irough. a series of'ports 9- to an annular chamber or passage 10,which communi cates with the inlet of a low pressure stage 11 of theturbine. 'The delivery of fluid through the port 8, to the exteriorof'the tobe delivered turbine, or through theseries of ports'9, to

the low ")ressure sta e of the turbine is corn invention, by acylindrical balanced valve 13 which operates within a. cylindrical casofports M, 8,5

ing 13*, provided with a series which communicate with the port 8, andthe The valve 13 so proportioned and so located within its casing thatthe ports 9 areopened as the ports is are closed'andvice versa, theports 9 are closed as the ports I L are opened, and one set of ports isfully -elosed when the other is-fullybpen In the illustrated embodimentof'the invention, the '95 valve 13 is actuated by apressure responsiveagent illustrated.as ,a plunger 15, which 'is located within a cylinder16, having one end in communication-with the port ,S,through the port orpassage '17,";and the other end in communication withtheetmospherethrough j a portlS, so that the plunger, is adapted to I; 5 moveinresponse to varying pressures de: livered through the passage 17 and tothere-y by proportion the delivery of =motive fluid the chamber 7,through the ports -9 and 14, so as-to maintain a Substantially constantpressure in the fluid delivered through the port 8 or, in other words,to

proportion the delivery of fluid from the chamber 7 between the port=8and the, low

ally mounted on the stem 23 of the valve 13.

The other end of the lever is pivotally connected to a link 24, which inturn is pivotally connected to the rod 26 of a fluid orl hydraulicallyactuated piston 26, which will hereinafter be described. I preferablyprovide a coiled sprin 19, for opposing the fluid pressure 011 theplunger 15, so that the plunger and consequently the valve 13 will moveto definite positions corresponding to different pressures; of the fluiddelivered through the port 8. tioned: or adjustable weight may besubstituted for the spring 19. a

The operation of the valve 13 in response to variations in thepressuregof the fluid delivered by it throng the port 8 is as follows:As long as the pressure 0f the fluid traversing the port 8 is below adetermined ordesired pressure, the valve 13 willremain in itslowestposition, in-which the ports 9 arevfu-lly closed and the ports 14 arefully opened. All the motive fluid delivered from the intermediate orsecondary stage 6 of the turbine will therefore be delivered through theports 14 and the port 8. As the steam delivered from the stage 6"exceeds the demand for steam made upon the port 8, the pressure ofvthefluid passing theport 8 will increase and'after a predetermined pressureis reached the plunger15 will start to move upwardly in response to theincreasing 'pressure of motive fluid delivered through the" pawage 17,and will lift the valve 13, there' by throttling the ports 14. andpartially opening the orts 9, so that a portion of the motive fluid romthe chamber 7'is delivered to the port 8 and a portion is delivered tothe low pressure stage 11 of the turbine' The valve 13 is raised'by theplunger 15 through the agency of the lever 21, which then fulcrums aboutits pivotal connection with the link 24. The spring 19 may be providedwith means for adjusting its tension, and consequently for regulatingthe automatic operation of the valve 13; it may also be. replaced by anadjustable weight or weights arranged to proportion the lift of thevalve 13 to. the pressure of the fluid delivered to the cylinder 16, orit may be weighted so that the plunger 15 and consequently the valve 13will always move to one extreme position or the other and consequentlyfully open or fully close 'the ports fluctuate.

A suitably propor- 14. Such an arrangement, however, is not desirablefor installations in which the turbine is subjected to variable loads,and pressure in the chamber 7 willwhich the The illustrated embodimentof; the invention is also provided with means such that if the load onthe turbine increases to suclr'an extent that the turbine cannot carryit and also supply motive fluid through the p0rt 8,- the valve 13 willmove to close the orts 14,

thereby shutting off the supply 0 motive fluid to the port 8, andopenthe ports 9 delivering all the fluid from the stage 6 to the owpressure stage 11. This is accomplished in'the illustrated embodiment bymeans of the piston 26, which is controlled by a relay valve 27. Thevalve 27 is in turn controlled by the turbine governor, through a lever28. 7

As illustrated, the governor rod 29. is'opera-' .tively connected to alever 31, which is fill, crumed on a bracket 32, ofthe turbine cas-'ing, and is operatively connected to the admission valve 5 of theturbine, bymeans of a link 33, so that the overnor proportions thedelivery of motive uid to the turbine in response to variations. inthe'speed of or the load on the turbine. With such an arrangement thevalve 5 will be opened as the speed of the turbine decreases and thegovernor shifts the rod 29in thedirection indicated by the arrow inFig.2. The lever 3l iis' shown as connected, through the agency of anadjustable lost motion connection 34,

with the lever 28 by means of which, the

lay valve 27 is actuated, and the. lost motion connection is so adjustedthat a further. mo-

tion of. the lever 31, after the valve 5 has been moved to deliver amaximum amountof motive fluid to the turbineywill shift the relay valve27 and thereby move the valve-13 to throttle or close the ports 14.

The relay valve 27 is of the usual construction and receives fluid orliquid under pressure through a port or passage 35. Pclivery ofliquid toand the dischargeof liquid from each end of the cylinder 36,, in whichthe piston 26 is mounted, is controlled by the valve 27, so that thepiston is by the liquid pressure in response to vanations in theposition of the relay. When the relay 27 is'moved downwardly, inresponse.

to a decrease in speed of the turbine, it establishes communicationbetween. the inlet port '35and a port 37 leading to the lower end of thecylinder 36- and also establishes communication between a passage 38lead ing from the upper end of the cylinder 36' and a discharge port 39.An upward movement of the piston 26 will lift the valve 13. through theagency of the lever 21 which,

during the operation of the piston 26, will I fulcrum around its pivotalconnection with the link 22. Inasmuch as the lever 28 is connected tothe stem 23' of the valve, mo-

- ing the tion of the valve vwill shift the position of the relay 2? andeonsequentlyeach definite position of the relay actuating lever 31 will'cause the valve 13 to occupy a definite posi' tion "with relationtotheports 9 and 14- and 13' Will operate in response to variations 1n theressure of fluid delivered through the blee er port 8 during normalloads Ian-the turbine, but will be governor controlled, or will operatein response to variations in the load on the turbine when the turbine issubjected to abnormal or overloads. The'load responsive operation of thevalve 13 is independent of the demand for steam upon the bleeder port 8,and consequently when the turbine is subjected to a determined overload,the relay '2? will operate to lift the valve 13 to fully close the ports14 and fully open the ports 9 independently ofthe operation of theplunger 15.

It'will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the intermediate orsecondary stage 6 of the turhine disclosed, is the equivalent of anindepciuleut high pressure element, such for example, as a turbine or areciprocating engine receiving steam or motive" -flhid from any sourceof high pressure, and

discharginp, at atmospheric or any deter mined relatively loivpressure.It will also be ap 'iaroiit that the low pressure stage 1]. theequivalent of an independent low pressure engine or turbine operating onlow pressure stean'i or motive fluid received from any source. 'Withthis in mind itlis evident that a valve euiluulying the features hereindescribed i y he omployedju proportionlivery oil motive fluid from anyhigh pre ,1 dement to any low pressure engine or tur one and to ableeder. port through which fluid is delivered for heating or commercialpurposes. It willalso be evident that the valve mechanism may beemploved ineounection with a paratus, such as described above, out inwhich the blecder port connects dirertly with the condenser, for thepurpose of hy-i iassingssteam or fluid low pressure engine or turbineand delivwiup it directly to the condenser for the purpose of giving thehigh D'IGSSIII'Q element the benefit of exhausting into the condenserwhen the load conditions are such that the demand for steam or fluid onthe low pressuremigine is reduced.

Tt will also be iuide'rstood that my invention may be employed with'arious types of turbines or multi-stagc or compound engines, thati'no'tive fluid may be bled from any stage .u-hine or engine and thatvarious means may be employed for ell'ect ing the load responsivecontrol of the hleeder valve. It will also be apparent to those skilledin the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions, omissionsand additions may be made in the valve mechanism illustrated, to meetthe requirements of different installations and that the pro portioningof the delivery of "fluid from the chamber '7 to the bleeder port and tothe low pressure stage of the turbine may be accomplished in variousWays, Without departing from the spirit and :ope of my invention assetforth by the appended claims.

What -I claim is: 1.'In combination with an engine having a fluiddelivery port for-bleeding steam froni a low pressure Working passagethere of, a valve for controlling the delivery of fluid through saidport, means responsive to variations in the pressure of fluiddeliveredthrough said port for controlling the operation oi the valve,and a governor mech anism for controlling the delivery oi motive fluidto the engine and for controlling the operation of the valve independentof said means.

2. In coinbii'iation with a multistage turbine having a fluid, deliveryport for blood ing steam from an intermediate pressure stage of theturbine, a valve mechanism for controlling the delivery of fluid throughthe port, and for delivering fluid from'the intermediate stage to a lowpressure stage of. the turbine, means responsive to the variations inpressure of the fluid delivered to said port for controlling theoperation of the valve mechanism during normal loads on the turbine,and. load responsive means for controlling the operation of the valveindependently oi the pressure responsive means during abnormal oroverloads on the turbine.

3. In combination with a multistage tur-' bine, having a port forbleeding steam from an intermediate pressure stage, a single valve forcontrolling the delivery of steam thrr'iugh the port and for deliveringsteam. from the intermediate stage to a low pressure-"stage of theturbine, said valve being so arranged that the flow of steam to saidport is increased as the flow to the low pres-- sure stage decreased andthe flow to the lowf pressure stage is increased as-theiiow to the portis decreased, means responsive to the pressure otfluid delivered to theport for controlling the operation of said valve, and a governormechanism for controlling the delivery oi steam to the 'turhine and forcontrolling the o 'ieration of said valve indelive of fluid through theport and for. deliverlng fluid from the intermediate stage to a lowpressure stage of the turbine, means responsive to the pressure of fluiddeliveredby said valve'to said port for controlling the operationof thevalve, and load responsive means for controlling the operation of thevalve. independently. of the pressure responsive means. 4 1 5. Aturbine, having a port for delivering .flllld from a working passagethereof of intermediate pressure, in combination with a low pressureturbine stage for receiving fluid from said passage of intermediate .15'pressure, a sin le valve for controlling the 1 delivery of fluid throughsaid port and to said low pressure stage, means responsive ;to thepressure of the fluid delivered through said port for controllingthe'operation of said valve, and means responsive to the speed of theturbine for actuating said valve to close said port independently of theoperation of said pressure actuated means.

6. In combination with an engine having a fluid deliveryport'communicating with a working passage of intermediate pressure, anda working passage of lower pressure adapted to receive fluid from thepassage of intermediate pressure, a valve mechanism .30 forproportioning the delivery of fluid to said'port and to said workingpassage of lowerpressure, means responsive to the pressure of fluiddelivered through said port for controlling the operation of said valvemechanism, andmeans responsive to variations in the speed of the enginefor actuating the valve mechanism, independentlyof the operation of thepressure responsive means, to close said port when the 40 load on theengine exceeds a determined load.

7 In combination with a multi-stage turbine, having a fluid deliveryport communicating with a stage of intermediate pressure,'a valve forcontrolling the delivery of fluid from said stage through said port andfrom said stage to a stage of lower pressure,

a pressure actuated plunger for controlling the operation of the valveresponsive to variatlons in the pressure of fluid delivered to saidport, a piston forv controlling the.

operation of the valve independently of said plunger, and agovernor-controlled relay for controlling the operation of said piston.

8. In combination with a multistage turline, having e tinirl deliverypert eernrnnnienting witha stage of intermediate pressure, a valve forproportioning the delivery of fluid to said port and to a stage of the.

- turbine of lower pressure, a pressure actuated plunger responsive tothe pressure of the fluid delivered to the port, for controlling theoperation of the valve, a piston for controlling the operation of thevalve independently of the plunger, a governorcontrolled relay forcontrolling the operation of said piston, and a governor for controllingthe operation of the relay and the delivery of fluid to the engine.

9. In combination with an engine having I a fluid 'delivery portcommunicating with a working passage of intermediate pressure, and aworking passage of lower pressure adapted to receive fluid from thepassage of intermediate pressure, an inlet valve for delivering fluid tothe passage of intermediate pressure, means for controlling the deliveryoffluid through the delivery port, and to the passage of lower pressure,an agent responsive to the pressure of fluid delivered through the portfor controlling the operation of said means, and a governor mechanismresponsive to variations'in the speed of the engine for controlling theoperation of said inlet valve and for actuating said means to close saidport, and to .establish'communication between said work- -ing passagesafter said inlet valve is fully open.

10; In combination with a multi-stage turbine having a bleederportcommunicat- 9o ing with. a stage of intermediate pressure, I and astage of lower pressure adapted to receive fluid from said intermediatepressure stage, an inlet valve for the turbine,

means for controlling the delivery of motive fluid through said port andto the stage of lower pressure,.'a governor mechanism responsive to thespeed of the turbine. for

controlling the operation of said valve and for controlling theoperation of said means whereby the delivery of fluid through said portis decreased and the delivery of fluid to said stage of lower pressureis increased in response to a decrease in speed of the turbine and afterthe inlet valve is fully open.

11. In combination with a multi-stage turbine having a hleeder portcommunicating with a stage of intermediate pressure, and a stage oflower pressure adapted to receive fluid from said intermediate ressurestage, an inlet valve for the tur ine, means for controlling thedelivery of motive fluid through said port, and to the stage of lowerpressure, an agent responsive to the pressure of the fluid deliveredthrough said -ort for controlling the operation. of saiv means toincrease the delivery of fluid to the port and decrease the delivery, eitinnl to send stage of lower" anism having no active controlling efi'ectf.

; ueat on said means during normal speeds of said turbine.

12. In combination with a multistage turbine having a bl der portcommunicating with a sta e of 'ntermediate pressure, and a stage oflower pressure adapted to receive fluid from said intermediate pressurestake, an inlet valve mechanism for delivering motive fluid to theturbine, means for controlling the delivery of fluid from theintermediate stage to said port or to said stage of lower. pressure, apressure responsive agent for controlling the opera tion of said means,a overnor responsive to. the speed of the tur inefor controlling theoperation of the inlet' valve mechanism, and means actuated by thegovernor after the speed of the turbine has decreased a determinedamount for controlling the op eration of said first mentioned means toclose off communication between the intermediate stage and the portiandto establish ing communication between the intermediate stage and thestage of lower pressure. 13. In combination with a multi-stage turbinehaving a bleeder port communicating with a stage of intermediatepressure, and a stage ofllower pressure adapted to receive fluid fromsaid intermediate pressure stage, an inlet valve for controllingthedelivery of fluid. to the turbine, means for controlling the deliveryof fluid from said intermediate pressure stageto said port and to saidstage of lower pressure, and a governing mechanism responsive to thespeed of the turbine for controlling the operation of Sillflfllltbilvalve and for closing communication between the intermediate.

pressure stage and the'port and establishlng communication between theintermediate ressure sta e and the sta e of lower pressure, when theturbine falls below a determined speed.

iii

14. In combination with a multistage turbine having a bleeder portcommunican ing with a stage of intermediate pressure, and a stage oflower pressure adapted to receive fiuid from the stage of intermediatepressure, means for controllin Y the delivery of fluid to the bleederport anil to the stage of lower pressure, a governing mechanismresponsive to the speed of the turbine for actuating said means to closesaid port who 1 the turbine falls below a determined speed, saidmechanism having no active control ling eliect on said means While theturbine is operating atnormal speeds.

15, In combination with a multistage turbine having a bleeder portcommunicating with an intermediate pressure stage, and a low pressurestage adapted to receive flnir. from the intermediate pressure means forcontrolling the delivery of fluid from the intermediate stage to saidport and. to the low pressure stage, an agent responsive to the pressureat the port for controlling said means to increase the delivery of duidto the port and decrease the delivery of fluid to the low pressure stagein response to c a decrease in pressure at the port and to in crease thedelivery of fluid to the low pressure stage and decrease the delivery offluid to the port in response to an increase in pressure, at the port, agoverning mechanism responsive to the speed of the turh e forcontrolling said means to close said port and establish communicationbetween said stages when the turbine speed decreases below a determinedspeed.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 17th dayof August, 1914.

J. FRANCIS JOHNSON. VVi'tnesses:

o. W. Meow, E. W. MoGALms'rnn.

It is hereby certified that in [Letters Patent. No. 1,223,340, grantedApril 17, 1917, upon t hu application of Josiah Francis Johnson, ofEdgewood, Pennsylvania, for an improvement, in "Automatic- ValveMechanism, an error appears in the printed specification reqniringcorrection as follows: Page 5, line 8, claim 12, for the word "stakereed stage; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with thiscorrection therein that the same may coniox 'm to fizz; record 0f thecase in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and seaied this 15th day of May, A. D., 1917.

[emu] F. W. H. CLAY,

Aeging Gommiadrmer of Patents.

